


Finally Finding Our Voices

by LarrysPencil



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, X-Factor, larry - Freeform, larry stylinson - Freeform, soulmate, soulmate!AU, x-factor!AU, xfactor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-27
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-30 15:25:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1020298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarrysPencil/pseuds/LarrysPencil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis can't get this stupid song out of his head, but that's okay because it's singing to him in a beautiful voice: His Soul mate's.</p><p>-or-</p><p>The one where whenever your soul mate is singing, that song is stuck in your head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finally Finding Our Voices

**Author's Note:**

> This is just something that I've been wanted to write for a long time and yes here it is.
> 
> title is from "Read All About It" by Emile Sande
> 
> Comments and kudos are not only appreciated but begged for.

(Soul mate)

 

The first time it really threw Louis off was when he was in in fourth grade. 

He was playing drums in a lesson for band class, and he couldn’t get it right. “Louis, you’re hitting the drum at the totally wrong time, I’ve gone over this with your four times already today. Are you alright?” His teacher looked at him, concerned. You see, Louis never, ever messes up the drums. After all he is the best drummer in the fourth grade.

“Yeah, I just can’t get this stupid song out of my head.” He hit the side of his head and shook around as if to shake the song away. Louis has had songs stuck in his head before, who hasn’t? But this time, it’s like the volume is turned up as loud as it can go and it’s taking up all of the space in his brain.

His teacher hummed in amusement, “What song is it then?”

Louis bobbed his head back and forth and shut his eyes; he waited just a second until the chorus came along when he quietly sang along, “I’ve been working on the railroad all the live long day…” He rolled his eyes, “Of all the songs.” 

The instructor laughed and shook his head. “Alright, it’s about time for you to get back to class anyways, we’ll continue next time.”

Once he gathered all his belongings he smiled at the teacher and walked back to his class. He sat down in his seat and dozed off while his math teacher babbled on. A moment later she called on him and he had no idea what to say, it was then he realized the song was finally gone. Thank God.

-

Later, Louis ran through the door to tell his mum about what had happened in school, and why couldn’t it at least have been a good song that messed him up? 

Laughing, his mother explained something to him that she said he had to pay very close attention to. She said that whenever he hears a song in his head, well that means that someone important was singing that song, or maybe listening to that song very carefully right then. 

“What’s so important about them?” He questioned her.

“Well, one day you’ll meet them, and you’ll just know that they are special. You’ll always want to be with them, and want to marry them.” 

Louis made a doubtful face at her, “Don’t think I’m marrying anyone. Especially not if they sing songs like ‘I’ve been workin’ on the railroad!’” He yelled as he skipped off to his room.

-

The second time Louis really thought about it was when he was fifteen and he couldn’t get a certain song out of his head that was really a big deal.

By now everyone was comfortable with the fact that sometimes they got weird songs stuck in their heads. For most of the kids his age, it occurred everyday at least once. Louis wondered a lot if his soul mate (that’s what everyone called it now) only sang once or twice a day, or if that’s just how the system worked; filtering out the unnecessary songs. (Sometimes, he thinks, all of the songs are unnecessary and can’t they just get out already?)

Louis was pondering all of these thoughts when a song began playing in his head at a growing volume. He scrambled to find his book in which he kept all of the songs in. After a few moments he decided he didn’t know this song, which wasn’t abnormal, so he wrote a few lyrics that stood out.

You’ve spent a lifetime stuck in silence afraid you’ll say something wrong…  
We all matter too…  
If the truth has been forbidden then we’re breaking all the rules…  
When did we all get so fearful?

The song lyrics beamed in his head with no music playing in the background. It sounded like he was listening to someone sing to him in an empty auditorium. A boy’s voice, deep and edgy. 

The words stopped and he pulled out his laptop. He typed some lyrics and hit search. The same song came up repeatedly, “Read All About It” by Emile Sande. He knew who she was, she sang that one song, right? Yeah, but what song is this?

He clicked on the lyrics meaning website which he pretty much lived on nowadays, being consumed with this whole soul mate thing. He skimmed until he reached a word that stood out to him. Caged.

He read the whole sentence; “The subject ‘we’ is pertaining to people who feel caged, either by gender, race or homosexuality. In this song the details support the homosexually aimed audience and is motivational for them to accept and broadcast themselves.”

He read the sentence three times. Three times he read those words, and three times he told himself, “it’s a boy.”

Louis was not a homophobic. And he would definitely be lying if he said he hadn’t had those thoughts many times before. But. It was never this real until now. Then he realized something else, was the boy that was singing in his head the one? He knew the closer you were to meeting them, the more you can hear their voice in the songs. Chills ran through his body and he decided he should sleep this one off, (of course after calling Zayn to tell him everything) and wait to tell his mum. 

Before he went to bed he looked through his song book, starting from the beginning. He smiled as the music evolved from common songs that played on the radio to random indie bands to bands that he really did like such as The Fray or The Script. He rolled his eyes when he came across the random Elvis Presley songs with a little giggle. His favorite song in particular was “Look After You.” He loved that it was stuck in his head a few weeks after he had made a cover to it. He knew that meant his soul mate had the song stuck in his head, and he then decided to sing it. That happened sometimes, and he thinks that it was probably one of his favorite things. 

-

Three years later, Louis had a third moment that stood out amongst the rest. He woke up to a soft guitar strumming and then a voice; one very similar to the one he heard three years ago. The voice was humming along to the car and they sang in a soft tone. 

_I don’t know if I sound stupid, and I don’t know if this goes against the rules. But I wrote this, and I hope you can hear it._

Louis’ smile widened because, this was his soul mate singing to him right now. And it was utterly adorable that he just sang words that were meant to be spoken, just so Louis could hear them.

The boy sang quietly about how impatient he is and how badly he just wants to meet him. He sang about how wonderful Louis’ voice sounds when he sings covers to some of his favorite songs. 

The song ended with him singing, “I miss you, and I’ve never met you.”

Louis let out a shaky breath when he realized he hadn’t taken a single breath through the entire song. He smiled and shook his head, he’s got a big sap on his hands now, doesn’t he?

Louis wasn’t sure if Harry was allowed to do that. He felt like he was cheating the system. Louis wanted to do the same, but he was sure he would say something about where he is, or maybe even say his name. And, well, he’s pretty sure that’s really cheating the system and he didn’t want to find out what the punishment was for that. 

He wrote a few notes about the song in his book, and got up to get ready for whatever the day was going to bring him. He was planning on going over to Zayn’s house today to watch a football match and eat unhealthy foods all day. 

He walked downstairs and was greeted by an enthusiastic little sister holding a torn out article from one of her magazines. “Lou! Lou, look!” She jumped around waving the paper around.

“Lottie! Lottie what is it calm down!” He laughed and she laughed louder with a giant smile on her face. She shoved the paper to his chest and he raised his eyebrows before taking the paper and reading the bold letters. 

X-Factor Auditions

He gasped, “Lottie… I don’t think I’d make it on this show.” He looked down at her matter-of-factly.

“Louis you would! I promise! You’re brill!” She yelled.

Then Louis’ mum walked into the room and put her hand on Lottie’s back, “She’s right, Lou. You’d win. I would put all my money on it. Try it! Give it a go?”

Louis read more into it and the auditions were in a week. A week! “A Week! That’s not enough time to prepare myself!” He widened his eyes at them. 

“Louuuuuuuuuu” His sister wined and crossed her arms.

“Okay, okay. I’ll try it. I make no promises of success, but I’ll def-“

“YAYYYYYY!” Lottie jumped into his arms and he held her and laughed. He put her down and she pointed a finger at him, “But don’t forget to thank me when you w-i-n.” 

He promised her he wouldn’t and he looked at his mum once she walked away. “I know you’ll make it. I’m proud already.” She hugged him. 

“Thanks mum.” He pulled away and smiled. Where in the world would he be without his mum? “Hey, I’m going to go over to Zayn’s for a bit, alright? I’ll come home for dinner.”

“Sure sweetie, have a good time.” She said. He kissed her on the cheek and headed for Zayn’s.

-

“She’s forcing me into trying. I don’t want to go. Plus, did you know auditions are at fucking nine in the morning and they’re an hour away? I am not getting up that early in the middle of summer.” Zayn rolled his eyes.

“Mate, I’m gonna be there, it’s not gonna be that bad. Plus you’re good, I think it’ll be worth it for the both of us.” Louis laid back on the couch and put his legs over Zayn’s lap, “Plus, you say you’ve had the same song stuck in your head every day for the past, what, month almost?”

“Sometimes twice a day.” He shook his head, “I just want to find him and throw my playlist at his face and walk away. It’s agonizing. And it’s not even that good of a song.”

Both Zayn and Louis were accepting of the fact that the voices in their heads were both guys. After Louis had a mild meltdown after hearing his voice for the first time, a year later Zayn freaked out for the same reason. It threw him for a loop because up until then, he was 100% into girls. Louis and him agreed it was necessary to see if they were actually into men. They tried kissing each other and decided that they were definitely not gay, because how gross had that been! Maybe they just, had a thing for just one guy in the universe. They also agreed on never discussing that incident ever again.

Louis laughed, “You realize that means he might be singing that song a lot because he’s practicing?” He paused, waiting for Zayn to understand, which he usually did. When he didn’t Louis continued, “Like, for a certain audition. For a certain show that you’re also auditioning for!”

Zayn looked up at him, “You think maybe?”

Louis nodded and grinned at Zayn. Zayn dismissively turned his head to watch the football match and ended any further complaining about the auditions.

-

It was a week later and Louis was standing in line to audition. To say he was nervous would be the biggest understatement in the entire world because shit Simon Cowell was out there and God Damn Katy Perry, too? Jesus.

He was nervously bouncing up and down and Zayn had his hands in his pockets with a blank expression on his face.

Louis smacked the side of his head, “What’s wrong?” 

Zayn took a deep breath, “Do you understand how many fucking times I’ve heard this song?! At least one hundred, and I can’t turn it off to save my life. I adore the voice, but please can he sing something else?” He whisper yelled at Louis.

Louis was dying by the time Zayn had finished his rant and he had a hand on his stomach clenched to his stomach. Zayn sighed loudly, “It’s over, finally. I have no doubt it’s going to start again.”

The doors to the second inside room opened and, oh my God, that meant they were within the next ten people to go. Louis’ mum put her hand on his back and Lottie grabbed his hand and tried to run him forward, but she ran into a guard. “Oops” She said quietly. Louis apologized to the man for her who just nodded his head slightly and stepped aside. 

His mum, him, Lottie, Zayn and Zayn’s mum made their way into the smaller room. Zayn’s sisters along with louis’ other sisters were too young to come along so they were left with grandparents.

Louis looked around then he looked to Zayn who hit himself in the head, “It’s starting again.” He said extremely annoyed.

Louis laughed and then widened his eyes as he peered past the curtains to see the stage from a side view. “Zayn…” Zayn looked at him, “Zayn. Zayn. Zayn, what did you say the song was that was stuck in your head?”

“Cry Me a River. Wh-“Zayn looked to where Louis was looking and he gasped. There singing on stage was a taller, slim boy with long, light brown hair, singing Cry me A River. Louis looked at Zayn to see his reaction and the look of pure affection on his face was amazing. 

Louis hugged him with all his strength and he smiled wide, “Matching voice?”

Zayn nodded fast and unsteadily. He smiled and turned to Louis, hugging him back, still keeping his eyes on the boy on stage. Once the boy stopped singing Zayn whispered, “He’s amazing.” 

Louis whispered congratulations in his ear before Zayn rushed over to the side of the stage to wait for him to come off. When the boy got two yeses from the girls and “one big, fat, almighty yes” from Simon, Zayn clapped louder than anyone. 

When soul mates met, everyone knew they were soul mates. The way they interacted you could just tell. Louis had seen two couples meet before and he couldn’t control the joy that ran through him, even though he didn’t know them. That was most likely why when the boy walked off the stage and immediately into Zayn’s arms and Zayn looked like the happiest man on the entire planet, Louis cried for him. He hugged his mum, and then Zayn’s mum and whispered yayayay at a million miles a minute under his breath. 

-

Later that night he dragged Zayn back to his house and made him spill every little detail about it. “I knew I was sure, but I was afraid he would be freaked out and wouldn’t get it. So I started humming my audition song as soon as the judges gave him his results. I could see his facial expression light up and I was so excited. When he started coming of stage I sang the words. He opened his mouth so big and jumped into my arms.” Zayn smiled and shook his head, “They say you can feel the radiation in their skin when you touch them for the first time, like they’re electric. It was amazing.”

Louis hugged him and kissed his temple, “Zayn I’m so happy for you, and I’m not even jealous yet. But make sure he knows who’s you really are because I’m not giving you away.”

Zayn laughed and promised him he would never.

After Zayn had fallen asleep next to him, Louis had a difficult time calming his mind. He was going to be on the X-Factor with his best mate, and his best mate had found his soul mate. What a fucking day. He was sitting in his room and watching videos of past boot camps only to come across an interview of none other than a fourteen year old Liam Payne, Zayn’s mate. He watched it and saw that he had made it past boot camp two years ago, only to be rejected at Simon’s house. And now he was trying again, what a man.

Louis had fallen asleep watching videos for almost four hours. He might be a little excited. Boot camp was starting in a month and he couldn’t decide if he wanted the month to go by really fast or really slow. 

No matter which he would rather have, the month seemed like a week. By the time he blinked, he was flying to London in a seat next to Zayn and they were about to be on the X-Factor Boot Camp. 

If Louis thought for even a second that Boot Camp would go quickly, he was absolutely 100% wrong. It was the most agonizing week he had ever lived through, if you could even say he lived.

Half way through, Zayn bolted and both him and Liam tried to go talk to him but the guards wouldn’t let them leave the stage, so Simon went. Liam was a nervous wreck because “What if Simon is an ass to him and Zayn decides he quits?” And Louis knew that was very possible, but he had faith that Zayn would come through.

After that little episode, it was all downhill. Louis, Liam and Zayn were put into separate groups and of course Louis was stuck with the people who couldn’t dance for shit. He was the only one who sort of knew what he was doing, and he’s pretty sure he face-paled so much that day, that he went to his hotel room with a raw skinned forehead and a short temper. 

-

He woke up in the morning of the last day of boot camp, which was elimination. He bolted out of bed and to the toilets and threw up whatever his stomach had left to digest from his midnight snack. (If you could even call a packet of super noodles and then a six dollar trip to McDonalds a snack. He ate when he was nervous.) 

He quickly got ready and stopped over to Zayn’s room where Liam already was, and they headed off. 

Once they arrived they were told to go in this room with the rest of the under 25 boys. He’d like to label it as the worst smelling room he’s ever had to sit in for more than an hour. Maybe it was the nerves, or maybe it was just the fact that there were 50 boys in a room meant for 25 and it was at least 80 degrees outside. 

He was standing with Liam and Zayn and they were talking about the week and the people they met and Louis started to regret eating breakfast. He told them he was going to run to the bathroom and then he literally ran to the bathroom. As soon as he reached the toilet he spilled the contents of his stomach into the bowl. Afterwards, he stood there shaking for a moment until he turned around and washed his hands. Someone walked in and stood at the sink next to him. While Louis was busy slashing his face with water the boy dropped the soap bar and muttered “oops.”

Louis bent down and grabbed it before placing it on the sink next to his. He lifted his gaze and was met with a beautiful pair of green eyes that seemed so, so familiar.

“Hi.” Louis said, in a trance because his eyes, Jesus those eyes. “Um.” Was all Louis said before heading for the door because he was just staring at a random boy and he was probably being really awkward. 

“I-“ The boy began but Louis darted off. 

That was embarrassing, and utterly awful of him to stare at a stranger for that long. How long had that been? At least a minute. He shivered and made his way back to Liam and Zayn just as they were called on stage. Oh boy.

They walked on stage and lined up. Louis was fidgeting constantly because, there were three of them. There’s no way all three got through and, well, he knew he was the worst of the three. Liam sounded like God and Zayn sounded like Justin Timberlake, which, was pretty much the same thing. He was average. How terrible is this going to be to go home, leaving Liam and Zayn to compete without him? It’s going to suck. He grabbed Zayn’s hand and gripped it like he was hanging of a cliff. 

The names were called out one by one, until there was only one name to be called out and none of the three had been called yet. They all looked at each other in complete distress.

“Shit.” He heard Zayn say and he was on the verge of tears. 

“The final contestant that has made it through is..” Simon stopped along with Louis’ heart. “Tom Richards.”

And if he thought he was going to cry before, he was crying out a waterfall and the worst part was he had nobody to hug. He squatted to the floor and buried his head in his hands. He felt a hand on his arm motioning for him to stand up. It was Zayn, and as soon as he obeyed, he enveloped him into his arms. Thank God for Zayn. 

 

Once he had himself composed and they were about to leave, some random guy called everyone over to have a listen. He called out four girl’s names and five guys. A part of the five happened to be him, Liam, Zayn and, of course, the kid he stared down in the toilets. This kid was now freaking out.

“They’re gonna interview us. Make fun of us. Mock us for sucking on tv for everyone to-“

Liam cut him off, “Mate, calm down. I’m sure it’s going to be fine. It’s okay.” He said and the boy shut up.

Louis couldn’t keep his fingernails out of his mouth as he walked on the stage behind a blonde, Irish kid that he remembered to be in his group at boot camp.

“Hello.” The one girl judge said, he forgot her name. “Thank you so much for coming back. I know… judging by some of your faces that this was really hard. We’ve thought long and hard about it, and we thought of each of you as individuals, that you are just too talented to let go of. We think it would be a great idea to have two separate groups.” Zayn clenched on to Louis’ side. 

“We’ve decided to put you both through.” Simon said.

Louis’ heart raced and he jumped up and down a thousand times. He ran towards the boy from the bathroom for a reason he was unaware of, and he jumped into his arms. 

“They say you can feel the radiation in their skin when you touch them for the first time, like they’re electric.”

His entire body felt like it was on fire, and the boy walked backstage with him still in his arms. As soon as they were back there Louis jumped down and looked up into his eyes which were a little higher than his. “So that’s why I couldn’t stop looking at your eyes in the toilets. Oh my gosh.”

The boy smiled and revealed two perfect little dimples. “I’m Harry.”

Louis smiled, “I’m Louis.” And before he could even process what was going on, Harry was kissing him with everything he had.

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting to hear that.” Harry said, “You sound like home.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [tumblr](http://louismcniceass.tumblr.com)


End file.
